Preparing for onslaught of attack ads in Md.
Marriage opponents to unleash campaign with one month to go
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com
One month before the election that will decide whether Maryland’s marriage equality law will go into effect or be overturned, advocates on both sides are turning up the heat and launching expensive TV ad campaigns to woo voters. And both sides are enlisting public ﬁgures in the ﬁght. Just this week Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray joined forces for a promarriage fundraiser. Meanwhile, Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk released a video denouncing samesex marriage.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 20

‘Fiscal cliff’ brings fears of devastating AIDS cuts
More than 12,000 HIV patients could lose access to care next year
By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com
Pending across-the-board cuts to federal programs have advocates concerned that up to 12,200 people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States could lose access to drugs and programs unless Congress takes action. The anticipated cuts, set to take effect on Jan. 2, are the result of the Budget Control Act, legislation President Obama signed last year as part of a compromise to raise the limit on the nation’s debt ceiling. It would reduce continued funding for the U.S. government in 2013 and beyond by cutting an estimated 8.2 percent in the ﬁrst year from discretionary federal programs — including HIV/AIDS programs. Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of the AIDS Institute, said unless Congress acts to institute an alternative budget, the level of funding provided would be troublesome because “people wouldn’t be able to get their drugs.” “The sequestration wasn’t ever to occur and within three months from now, it’s going to take place unless Congress acts,” Schmid said. “It would be devastating to our programs.” Kimberly Crump, policy ofﬁcer at HIV Medicine Association, said problems are already emerging because care providers aren’t sure what level of funding will ultimately be provided. “It really hinders them in hiring staff and making decisions around personnel, around controlling costs of labs and accepting new patients, the hours that they can be open,” Crump said. “It’s going to really start to impact availability of services.” Estimates for what these cuts would mean for people living with HIV/AIDS have varied widely. In a letter dated Sept. 19 to Congress, the AIDS Institute says the reductions to ADAP funding could mean wait lists for drugs would once again be extended and around 9,400 patients would lose access to medication. “This would automatically create wait lists again, and extremely long ones,” Schmid told the Blade. “But it could be even more than that, we’re doing some further analysis, so some people are saying it’s like 10,000 to 12,000 people removed from the ADAP program if this sequestration goes through.” The number is an estimate from the Department of Health & Human Services. In a June 29 letter to Congress, Ellen Murray, HHS assistant secretary for ﬁnancial resources, writes that “approximately 12,150 fewer patients” would receive beneﬁts from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. A July 25 report from the Senate Health, Education,
CONTINUES ON PAGE 18

A gay kickball league is among the groups that make use of Stead Park.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

D.C.’s Eagle is being forced to relocate to make way for a new ofﬁce building on New York Avenue.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

D.C. Eagle in search of new home
The D.C. Eagle, one of the oldest gay bars in the city, continues to search for a new building in advance of a Nov. 30 deadline to vacate its current location at 639 New York Ave., N.W., to make way for a new ofﬁce building. Eagle manager Ted Clements said the bar plans to hold a closing party on Nov. 25, with the hope that the popular establishment will have lined up a new location shortly before or after that date. “We’re trying to ﬁnd a building,” he told the Blade. “This will be the fourth location. We keep getting pushed around from the development in this area. We’ve been in a four-block radius for the past 40 years.” The Douglas Development Corporation, one of the city’s largest real estate developers, has announced plans to build a new high-rise ofﬁce building with retail businesses on the 600 block of New York Ave., N.W., where the Eagle and other businesses are now located. The site is one block away from the Washington Convention Center. Clements pointed to Douglas Development’s announced plans to move the Eagle building to another location on the site of the new development to keep its façade and structure intact because it has historic status. With the Eagle having occupied the building for 25 years, its preservation and incorporation into the new development is likely to be viewed by some of its longtime customers as a tribute to the Eagle’s place in D.C.’s LGBT community. “They’re going to jack it up, move it, dig out for a parking garage, then cut off the back by 30 feet and put it back somewhere on the block and build a high rise in the center of the block,” he said. “I talked to the architect.” According to Clements, greater restrictions the city has placed on licensing and zoning requirements for bars in the years since the Eagle ﬁrst opened in the early 1970s has made it difﬁcult to ﬁnd a new building. Asked whether the bar is likely to ﬁnd a new location before it vacates its current building, Clements said, “We don’t know yet…It’s getting harder and harder to ﬁnd a place. It’s a lot of red tape to do business in D.C. now.”

ﬁeld with re-sodding, enhanced fencing, added benches and upgraded lighting,” Espinoza states in the petition. Gay ANC Commissioner Jack Jacobson, who’s giving up his ANC seat to run for the Ward 2 D.C. school board seat, has expressed support for what he says is the park renovation proposal’s goal of expanding the number of people who use the park. “I’m a member of the community,” Jacobson told the Blade. “I pay taxes. I don’t play kickball and I don’t play basketball. But I would rent a community garden plot or maybe utilize an amphitheater or picnic tables or a number of other things that don’t exist right now,” he said. Adding more amenities to the park than just sports ﬁelds would beneﬁt a greater number of people in the community, Jacobson and others supporting the renovation proposal have said. Espinoza told the Blade retaining the current size of the sports ﬁeld would not prevent other park improvements. The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation is expected to make the ﬁnal decision on any signiﬁcant changes for the park.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Lesbians’ lawsuit against police goes to mediation
D.C. government attorneys attended a court-ordered mediation session on Sept. 27 with lawyers representing two lesbian police ofﬁcers who sued the city in 2011 on grounds of anti-gay discrimination on the job. Metropolitan Police Department Det. Kennis M. Weeks and Ofﬁcer Tonia L. Jones charged in a 38-page complaint that they were subjected to discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on their sexual orientation and gender since September 2006. The two charge in the lawsuit that the discrimination began in 2006 when they disclosed to fellow ofﬁcers that they were in a same-sex relationship. The lawsuit charges that at least seven sergeants, two lieutenants, and three ofﬁcers from the Seventh – including Seventh District Commander Joel Maupin – played some role in carrying out the alleged discrimination. “The parties may submit conﬁdential settlement statements in advance of the mediation but such statements are not required, and in most cases, they are unnecessary,” said U.S. District Court Judge Magistrate Alan Kay in an order calling on the two sides to enter mediation. Spokespersons for the police and the D.C. Attorney General’s ofﬁce, which represents city agencies in lawsuits, said they could not comment on pending litigation. Cathy Harris, an attorney representing Kennis and Jones, said she was hopeful that city attorneys would make a sincere and “realistic” settlement offer that recognizes what she said was the unfair and discriminatory treatment her clients received by fellow police ofﬁcers and supervisors.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Concern over Stead Park renovation plan
The co-founder of the local gay group Stonewall Sports is circulating a petition opposing a proposal to renovate the Dupont Circle area’s Stead Park in a way that the group says would reduce the size of its sports ﬁelds by 25 percent. Martin Espinoza states in his petition that a park renovation project proposed by Friends of Stead Park would “jeopardize current community leagues like soccer, volleyball, and kickball from using the ﬁelds.” Espinoza, who is running for a seat on the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission, is one of the organizers of a gay kickball league that uses the park. Friends of Stead Park is a non-proﬁt group that has helped maintain the park through an endowment from the Stead family, which donated the land in which the park is located to the city about 40 years ago. Friends of Stead Park invited members of the community to weigh in on the renovation proposal at a meeting scheduled to take place 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the D.C. Jewish Community Center at 16th and Q Streets, N.W. Stead Park is located on P Street, N.W., between 16th and 17th Streets. “We would like to see the limited funds being received be used to renovate the existing

History group honors LGBT ‘pioneers’
The Rainbow History Project on Thursday was scheduled to honor more than a dozen local and national LGBT activists. Those chosen as 2012 Community Pioneers include philanthropist Robert Alfandre; black lesbian rights activist Colevia Carter; One in Ten founder Keith Clark; Metro DC PFLAG founder Paulette Goodman; Latino LGBT History Project founder Jose Gutierrez; Federal GLOBE founder Len Hirsch; Susan Hester of the Mautner Project; transgender rights activist Jessica Xavier; Robert Miailovich of Dignity-Washington; and longtime community activist Bob Summersgill. The Rainbow History Project will also pay tribute to Stefan Wade of the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, D.C. Human Rights Commissioner Cade Ware, James Mercer of the BWMT Discrimination Response System and Larry Uhrig, former pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington. “These men and women have dedicated their lives to LGBT organizations, both local and national, and now we are coming together to thank them for their service,” said the Rainbow History Project in a statement.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 05

washingtonblade.com 06 • OCTOBER 5, 2012 LOCAL NEWS

Jackson says he placed ‘curse’ on Blade
Anti-gay minister suggests he triggered former parent company’s 2009 shutdown
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com
Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., the Maryland minister who led an unsuccessful campaign to overturn D.C.’s same-sex marriage law, told an audience last Sunday that he placed a curse on the Washington Blade in 2009. In what appears to be a sermon that someone recorded and posted online, Jackson said he placed his curse on the Blade two months before the Blade’s November 2009 shutdown following a bankruptcy ﬁling by its former parent company, Window Media. “I remember one night I walked past one of those newsstands,” Jackson said, referring to one of the Blade’s sidewalk boxes used to distribute the paper. “As I was walking past it I looked at that newsstand and it had some article about same-sex marriage — all of that stuff on it,” he said. “And I laid hands on that newsstand and I said, ‘In the name of Jesus, I curse this paper!” Speaking in a loud voice, Jackson added, “In less than two months, the paper went bankrupt. It was part of a six-state, six newspaper chain. It went bankrupt! It went out of business! It went under!” The sermon was ﬁrst reported by Jeremy Hooper at GoodAsYou. Jackson didn’t mention in his sermon that the Blade’s staff continued to publish even after Window Media’s bankruptcy. Within the next several months, three staff members formed a new company that later purchased the rights to the Washington Blade’s name from the bankruptcy court. The staff never missed a week of publishing during the upheaval. Jackson didn’t respond to a request for comment. Blade editor Kevin Naff said he found it interesting that Jackson is not aware of the Blade’s comeback. “Harry Jackson has never let the facts get in the way of his misguided opinions,” Naff said. “He is comically misinformed about the Blade’s track record.” In his sermon last Sunday, Jackson told of how he moved to D.C. from Maryland in 2009 to become “involved and ultimately become the leader” of the effort to kill D.C.’s same-sex marriage law through a voter referendum. “So I get into the District and I started having all these stories written by this gay newspaper called the Blade,” Jackson said. “And they were writing these things – had me on the front page day after day,” he said. Although he didn’t go into speciﬁcs, Jackson was referring to a series of stories the Blade published in early 2009 questioning whether Jackson was a legal D.C. resident at the time he registered to vote in the city and took out petitions to place a same-sex marriage referendum on the ballot. The Blade reported that Jackson listed as his D.C. address an efﬁciency apartment in a condominium building near the Washington Convention Center that was ineligible for being rented to a tenant under the condominium’s rules. The owner of the apartment told the condo board that Jackson was his roommate, according to sources at the upscale high-rise building. But LGBT activists raised questions about whether Jackson actually lived in the building. Other sources told the Blade Jackson and his wife

‘I laid hands on that newsstand and I said, ‘In the name of Jesus, I curse this paper!’ HARRY JACKSON said in a sermon, referring to the Blade.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

were seen arriving and leaving the couple’s house in Silver Spring, Md., during the time Jackson claimed to be living in D.C. The Blade stories prompted a Mt. Vernon Square neighborhood activist to ﬁle a complaint with the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics challenging Jackson’s D.C. residency status. The board said it responded by investigating Jackson’s residency. It announced a short time later

that it found Jackson’s living arrangement met the legal requirements of D.C. residency. Jackson and his supporters lost their campaign to overturn the city’s samesex marriage law when the D.C. Court of Appeals issued a ruling upholding a city law that prohibits ballot referendums on issues that could lead to discrimination. The appeals court held that the city has legal authority to ban referenda on certain issues.

Couple sues after photo exploited by anti-gay group
‘Heartbroken’ as image used to attack lawmaker
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com
The Southern Poverty Law Center has sued a group with ties to a Virginia county supervisor for using a gay couple’s engagement picture in an attack ad against a Colorado lawmaker. SPLC alleges in a lawsuit ﬁled in federal court in Colorado that Public Advocate of the United States, which is based in Falls Church, Va., misappropriated the likenesses and personalities of Brian Edwards and Tom Privitere when it used a photo of them kissing with the New York City skyline in the background to attack Colorado state Sen. Jean White. The doctored picture reads “’State Senator Jean White’s idea of Family Values?’” The lawsuit further alleges that Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene Delguadio, who founded Public Advocate in 1981, superimposed the couple onto a snowy, forested background “to imply the photo was taken in Colorado.” “We are heartbroken that our images may have been seen by gay and lesbian youth in Colorado and were left feeling ashamed of their sexual orientation because of it,” said Privitere. “We hope that this group is held accountable for its reprehensible and hateful anti-gay attacks.” SPLC, which has designated Public Advocate as a hate group for its antigay rhetoric, further alleges that the organization caused Edwards and Privitere mental anguish. It also ﬁled suit on behalf of photographer Kristina Hill, who took the original photo, for allegedly using the picture without her permission. SPLC said it notiﬁed both Public Advocate and Delguadio in July that it was investigating the unauthorized use of Hill’s copyrighted photo. The group’s letter further demanded conﬁrmation that the group had stopped using the picture, but it maintains neither Delguadio nor Public Advocate responded. “This case is about the deﬁlement of a beautiful moment by a group known for demonizing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” said SPLC Deputy Legal Director Christine Sun. “This was just a cheap way for Public Advocate to avoid having to pay for a stock photo to use in their hateful anti-gay attack ad. It was nothing short of theft.” SPLC ﬁled suit on the same day accusations that Delguadio had improperly directed county staff to solicit campaign contributions broke. Delguadio told the Washington Post after SPLC announced it was to ﬁle suit against him and Public Advocate that “I’m looking into that.” He did not return further requests for comment. “Our heart goes out to the couple,” James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, told the Washington Blade. “The use of these wedding photos for political means is an invasion of privacy and disgusting. It’s time that Eugene Delgaudio and his company are held accountable for their actions. Delgaudio has a long history of working against the LGBT community so we appreciate the actions the Southern Poverty Law Center is taking to bring justice to this situation.”

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 07

washingtonblade.com 08 • OCTOBER 5, 2012 NATIONAL NEWS

Romney strong in ﬁrst debate; LGBT issues not addressed
GetEqual protests anti-gay Calif. bishop
SAN FRANCISCO — GetEqual planned to protest on Thursday the installation of San Francisco’s new Archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, because of the central role he played in the passage of California’s infamous anti-gay ballot initiative, Proposition 8. LGBT news blog, JoeMyGod reports the group — which formed after the 2009 National Equality March on Washington — created a Facebook event page inviting local LGBT advocates to join the group at St. Mary’s Cathedral during the ceremony to express their displeasure with the selection of the man to lead the Catholic diocese in one of the most gay-friendly cities in America. “Cordileone played a central role in founding and executing the Protect Marriage campaign, and under his inﬂuence, Catholic organizations in California played a leading role in ﬁnancing the Prop 8 campaign,” the group’s statement reads on the Facebook page. “In fact, it was Cordileone who personally phoned [National Organization for Marriage] co-founder Maggie Gallagher and asked her to get NOM involved in the Prop 8 ﬁght.” Proposition 8 added prohibitions against state recognition of same-sex nuptials in the California Constitution, after the state had already begun to recognize and perform such marriages. Cordileone was arrested in his hometown of San Diego in late August on a charge of driving under the inﬂuence, after failing a breathalyzer test at a police checkpoint, shortly after being named to the Archbishop post.

Obama mentions ‘Don’t Ask’ repeal among accomplishments
By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney turned in a strong performance in his ﬁrst debate with President Obama Wednesday night, winning the contest according to most pundits and observers. The 90-minute debate was virtually devoid of LGBT issues as the candidates clashed over broader economic issues and health care reform. The most direct reference to LGBT issues came from Obama when he mentioned “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal as part of a list of his accomplishments that he achieved through bipartisan effort. Obama said he’ll “take ideas from anybody, Democrat or Republican” to advance the middle class and that strategy is how the administration passed small business tax cuts, enacted three trade agreements and “how we repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’” Lanae Erickson, director of the social policy and politics program for the centrist advocacy group called Third Way, said she was pleased Obama included “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” among his bipartisan initiatives. “Our country has come a long way when the only time an LGBT issue came up in the ﬁrst presidential debate was as an example of bipartisanship,” Erickson said. “Obama used repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in a list of things he had done to partner with folks across the aisle — it seems like that would have been unthinkable in 2004, or even 2008.” Romney made an oblique reference to social issues. He talked about the ﬁrst line of the Declaration of Independence and protecting “religious tolerance and freedom” in the country, which sometimes has been interpreted as code for support of social conservatives. But the remark was incidental during the 90-minute debate as moderator Jim Lehrer — whose performance was immediately savaged by critics — avoided social issues and posed questions on the economy, government programs and tax policy. Questions on LGBT issues weren’t raised — nor anything on other social issues, such as women’s rights or immigration. Among the major points that came up included Romney saying he’d like to keep certain provisions in ﬁnancial reform legislation known as Dodd-Frank, such as transparency and leverage limits. Romney also reiterated his pledge to repeal health care reform, but said he supports a policy that keeps insurance companies from

Family says arson death may be hate crime
INDIANAPOLIS — The family of an Indianapolis man found dead after his home was found ablaze believe the death could have been the result of an antigay hate crime. After ﬁreﬁghters responded to a blaze, the body of 27-year-old Bryant Steele was discovered on a bed in the residence’s living room, and he was declared dead on the scene, according to local station WBIW. Police believe foul play was involved in the ﬁre and death, and WISH-TV is reporting that homicide detectives are now leading an investigation. Police have not yet named any suspects in any criminal investigation. Steele’s family told WBIW that he was gay, and they believe his death was directly related to his sexual orientation. They told the station they believe the ﬁre was a hate crime.

HRC identiﬁes key struggles for gay youth
WASHINGTON — After surveying 10,000 American LGBT-identiﬁed youth ages 13-17 across all demographics, the Human Rights Campaign’s “Growing up LGBT” survey has found that 92 percent of LGBT youth hear negative messages about being LGBT from school, the internet or their peers. “Despite many civil rights advances, today’s LGBT youth are still members of the only minority group ‘born into an enemy camp,’ subject to family and community disapproval and animus rather than loving support,” said Dr. Jack Drescher of the American Psychiatric Association and New York Medical College. The survey also found that despite the fact that 90 percent of respondents are out to close friends, 42 percent say the community they live in is not LGBT friendly.

Trans woman wins ﬁght against insurer
NEW YORK — Ida Hammer has resolved a claim against MVP Health Care after the insurer denied coverage of her sex reassignment surgery on the grounds the procedure was “cosmetic” The insurer will now cover the medically necessary procedure after a suit by Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund forced the company to reconsider. “I have been undergoing treatment for gender dysphoria for the past ﬁve years. My doctors determined that surgery is the only adequate treatment for my condition,” said Hammer.

discriminating against individuals with pre-exisiting conditions. Obama and Romney also sparred over tax policy. Obama expressed support for tax cuts for the middle class because “we do best when the middle class is doing well” as he accused Romney of backing a policy that consists of tax cuts for the rich. Romney denied the charge, saying he doesn’t support tax cuts that add to the deﬁcit, prompting Obama to quip, “Well, for 18 months he’s been running on this tax plan. And now, ﬁve weeks before the election, he’s saying that his big, bold idea is, ‘Never mind.’” Jerame Davis, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, praised Obama for presenting a starkly different economic plan from Romney’s, saying the president went into more detail than the Republican candidate. “Mitt Romney came to tonight’s debate prepared to take pot shots at President Obama while dodging questions about the speciﬁcs of his vague plans,” Davis said. “In contrast, President Obama addressed the American people directly and laid out a vision for the next four years.” Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director of the gay conservative group GOProud, said Romney won the debate because he laid out greater detail in his proposals. “Tonight was a very good night for Mitt Romney, a very bad night for Barack Obama, and a very good night for those Americans hungry for a new president and a new direction,” LaSalvia said.

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GOP attorney calls DOMA challenge invalid
Lesbian widow, 83, hopes to overturn anti-gay federal law
By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com
NEW YORK — The House Republican attorney defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court took issue last week with an octogenarian lesbian’s case against the law by suggesting the timing and location of her marriage makes challenges invalid. Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general under the Bush administration, claimed before a federal appeals court that Edith Windsor doesn’t have a case because she married in Canada and her spouse, Thea Spyer, died in 2009 — two years before New York legalized same-sex marriage. “The critical question isn’t 2012, the critical question is 2009,” Clement said. Clement added that the issue of whether the marriage is sufﬁcient for a challenge against DOMA should be brought to certiﬁcation before the New York Court of Appeals, the highest state court in New York. James Esseks, director of the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, told the Blade after the oral arguments that Clement was “grasping at straws” when making these claims. “There’s clear law in New York that New York in 2004 recognized the marriages of same-sex marriage performed in Canada and in other states that allowed same-sex couples to marry,” Esseks said. Esseks acknowledged that the high court in New York hasn’t afﬁrmed those marriages, but said that three lower courts have recognized those marriages as legitimate as well as the governor and attorney general. “There’s just no debate about it; it’s quite clear,” Esseks said. “I think we heard from the court today — it’s difﬁcult to make any predictions — but based on what I heard from the court, I don’t think that that’s how the court’s going to decide this question. They’re not going to duck the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage by saying we’re not sure whether she’s actually married or not.” A three-judge panel on the appellate court heard from three attorneys during oral arguments in the case, known as Windsor v. United States. The lawsuit was ﬁled by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Windsor, who was forced to pay $363,000 in estate taxes upon the death of her spouse because of Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The panel consisted of Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush; Judge Chester Straub, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton; and Judge face the courts also came up during the hearing. Judges asked whether they should overturn DOMA on the basis that such laws should be subjected to strict scrutiny, or more intermediate level of heightened scrutiny or be examined under a rational basis review. The level of scrutiny they apply could have implications on court cases related to sexual orientation. Kaplan said she was arguing for the higher level of review called strict scrutiny as opposed to the more intermediate heightened scrutiny because “being gay or lesbian is closer to being African American than being a woman.” Laws related to gender have been subjected to heightened scrutiny, but laws related to race have been subjected to strict scrutiny. But Delery didn’t articulate the same view, saying he was arguing against DOMA on the basis that it violated heightened scrutiny. While he acknowledged arguments could be made that DOMA fails rational basis, he wouldn’t commit to saying that it should be struck down under that standard. Another question for Delery, which came from Droney, was why the Justice Department had appealed the Windsor case to the Second Circuit even though his side won at the district court level when U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones ruled against the law. Delery provided an explanation, prompting Droney to quip that the Justice Department must have a predilection for seeking appellate court rulings in all cases, eliciting laughter from those in attendance at the hearing. Yet another question was raised by Jacobs on whether withholding beneﬁts from gay couples with the intention of saving money for the federal government is a good enough constitutional reason to keep DOMA in place. Kaplan denied this assertion and said saving money isn’t sufﬁcient rationale unless it’s coupled with another justiﬁcation. But Clement pounced on these remarks in the rebuttal allotted to him at the end of the oral arguments, saying boosting federal coffers is absolutely a good reason to preserve DOMA and Congress was “preserving the scope of the beneﬁts programs the way they’ve always been.” Clement also during his rebuttal asserted that Congress has acted in other areas besides gay and lesbian couples with regard to marriage. He noted lawmakers have acted to protect against fraud, and, going back to the 19th century, required states to prohibit polygamy so territories like Utah could enter the union. Following the oral arguments, Windsor appeared outside the court building to speak with reporters. Windsor, who recently turned 83, said, ”I look forward to the day when the federal government will recognize the marriages of all Americans, and I am hopeful that this day will come during my lifetime.”
� CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Christopher Droney, who was appointed by President Obama. It’s the second time a federal appellate court has considered the constitutionality of DOMA. In April, the U.S. First Circuit of Appeals heard oral arguments in the consolidated case of Gill v. Ofﬁce of Personnel Management and Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Department of Health & Human Services. On May 31, the appeals court issued a decision against DOMA as a result of that consideration. Lawyers presented before the Second Circuit starkly different views on the Defense of Marriage Act last Thursday before judges reviewing Windsor’s challenge to the anti-gay law, which was passed by Congress in 1996. In addition to questioning whether Windsor has standing, Clement, who’s defending DOMA in court on behalf of the House Republican-led Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, drew upon the cases of Baker v. Nelson, a 1972 Minnesota case seeking the legalization of same-sex marriage that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear for lack of substantive federal question. Clement acknowledged the case is 40 years old and times may have changed since then, but added, “The only thing that hasn’t changed is this court’s obligation to follow Supreme Court precedent.” Plaintiffs in the case had another view. Roberta Kaplan, partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, argued against DOMA on behalf of Windsor, saying the law should be struck down because states can already decide on their own what decisions to make about who can marry within their borders. “The problem supposedly solved by uniformity is a problem that our federalist principles have already dealt with,” Kaplan said. Kaplan added the case against DOMA isn’t about any federal right to marry because even with the law in place, gay couples haven’t been discouraged from marrying across the country, nor have they been discouraged from adopting.

Acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery, who’s gay, assisted in the litigation by presenting arguments on behalf of the Obama administration, saying the court should strike down the law because of the long history of discrimination against LGBT people — including the criminalization of homosexuality and being barred from military service. “Sexual orientation is a fundamental part of a person’s identity that says nothing about a person’s ability to contribute to society,” Delery said. Questions from judges hit on several topics, although the questioning didn’t reveal much in terms of how they’d rule in the case. Many inquiries were posed about the extent to which gays and lesbians enjoy political power within the U.S. government. Opponents of DOMA have argued the anti-gay law is unconstitutional because gays and lesbians lack political power, but BLAG contends the LGBT community has signiﬁcant inﬂuence. Asked by Jacobs about whether the test of political power is whether gays and lesbians have any power at all or whether power is diminished, Clement replied, “I think it’s the former, and I don’t think it’s not a overwhelmingly difﬁcult test. … It’s a matter of whether you get the attention of lawmakers.” Clement pointed to a friend-of-thecourt brief signed by 145 House Democrats ﬁled in the case on behalf of plaintiffs as evidence that the LGBT community has inﬂuence over the political process as he asserted the LGBT community should look to the legislative process to repeal DOMA, saying “This is an issue that could be left to the Democratic process.” But Kaplan said the 30 marriage amendments that passed in states throughout the country are evidence that gays and lesbians are politically powerless, even though she emphasized these amendments have no bearing on the case at hand against DOMA. The degree of scrutiny under which laws related to sexual orientation should

washingtonblade.com NATIONAL NEWS OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 17

Calif. bans ‘ex-gay’ therapy for minors
New law includes religious exemptions
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a ﬁrst-of-its-kind bill last week prohibiting “reparative” therapy that seeks to change a minor’s sexual orientation from gay to straight. Bill SB 1172, introduced by State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles County), applies only to mental health professionals licensed or credentialed by the state who seek to perform the therapy on someone below the age of 18. It exempts unlicensed therapists or counselors, including those associated with religious organizations. Despite the exemptions, Brown and Lieu called the legislation an important step in protecting juveniles from a practice deemed unscientiﬁc and harmful. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2013. “This bill bans non-scientiﬁc ‘therapies’ that have driven young people to depression and suicide,” Brown told the San Francisco Chronicle. “These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery.” In a statement released Sept. 30, Lieu said, “No one should stand idly by while children are being psychologically abused, and anyone who forces a child to try to change their sexual orientation must understand this is unacceptable,” he said. The nation’s two largest mental health professional organizations – the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association – have long opposed reparative therapy on grounds that no credible scientiﬁc studies have conﬁrmed that someone’s sexual orientation can be changed. The two groups have also pointed to studies showing that seeking to change a person’s sexual orientation could lead to depression and other harmful side effects. The groups didn’t take an ofﬁcial position on SB 1172. But more than a dozen state and national mental health associations did endorse the legislation, including the California Psychological Association, the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. SB 1172 passed in the California Senate and Assembly by comfortable margins in late August along party lines, with no Republicans voting for it. Opponents, including the Paciﬁc Justice Institute, announced they plan to challenge the law in court, saying it violates First Amendment free-speech rights. The Paciﬁc Justice Institute said the law also would deny parents the right to choose the type of therapy and care for their children. The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which promotes reparative therapy, issued a statement on its website saying if SB 1172 became law, “licensed therapists in California who would otherwise be willing to assist minor clients in modifying their unwanted same-sex attractions and behaviors will be seriously jeopardizing their professional livelihoods.” LGBT advocacy groups hailed the law as an important breakthrough in their ongoing efforts to oppose reparative therapy. “Governor Brown today reafﬁrmed what medical and mental health organizations have made clear,” said Clarissa Filgioun, board president of the statewide LGBT group Equality California. “Efforts to change minors’ sexual orientation are not therapy; they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inﬂicted untold harm on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians.” Chad Grifﬁn, president of the Human Rights Campaign, pointed to research showing that reparative therapy causes “serious, lasting harm” to LGBT youth. “It is time to safeguard the most vulnerable among us by ending the abusive practice of subjecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth to damaging attempts to change their sexual orientation or gender expression,” he said. Some supporters of the bill expressed concern that its sponsors weakened the measure by dropping a provision that would have required reparative therapy patients of any age to sign a consent form

California Gov. JERRY BROWN signed into law a bill barring so-called ‘conversion’ therapy for gay teens under 18.
PHOTO BY PHIL KONSTANTIN ; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

acknowledging the therapy’s potential harm and lack of scientiﬁc merit. Another provision dropped from the original version of the bill would have required mental health practitioners to ﬁle a report to the state about the reparative therapy they perform. The provision called for the state to keep records on the therapy and issue an annual report about the “risks and limited potential” of the therapy. A similar bill calling for banning reparative therapy for minors is pending in the New Jersey Legislature.

Supreme Court refuses challenge to Maine donor laws
NOM seeks to keep names of contributors secret
By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied another request from an anti-gay group challenging ﬁnancial disclosure laws in Maine that require the organization to reveal who donated to the 2009 marriage ballot initiative campaign. Justices announced on Monday they wouldn’t hear the case, ﬁled by the National Organization for Marriage, on an order listing hundreds of lawsuits they have declined to hear over the course of the 2013 term. The court’s decision not to hear the case, known as National Organization for Marriage v. McKee, was made during the Sept. 24 conference, the ﬁrst meeting of justices for this term, but wasn’t announced until Monday. Last week, the court announced six cases it had decided to consider during the conference. NOM ﬁled the lawsuit against state disclosure laws in Maine after the organization in 2009 helped the antigay side in a referendum over the state’s same-sex marriage law, which state voters ultimately rejected by 53 percent. Among other things, NOM argued the same donor disclosure laws shouldn’t be applied to both political candidates and ballot questions and asserted the $100 reporting threshold in Maine is so low it doesn’t constitutionally further the state’s information interest. But the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in January afﬁrmed a district court ruling upholding the disclosure laws, which NOM later appealed to the Supreme Court. Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, criticized the anti-gay group. “NOM has shown an unwillingness to play by the rules and this is yet another legal setback,” Sainz added. “This is proof that their penchant for secrecy has run them afoul of the law.” NOM won’t be required to reveal its donors immediately, but the decision means Maine can continue to pursue its investigation of the organization’s activities related to the 2009 ballot measure. Phyllis Gardiner, a Maine assistant attorney general and counsel to the state’s Commission on Governmental Ethics & Election Practices, said the state is “pleased” the First Circuit’s ruling will be upheld, but acknowledged the investigation continues. “The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics & Election Practices has an ongoing investigation, and there’s pending state court litigation as well that has not yet been fully resolved,” Gardiner said. “So, the constitutionality of the statute was upheld by the First Circuit, and now it’s a matter of the commission completing its work and making its determination.” Gardiner added she doesn’t know the exact timing for when the ethics commission will ﬁnish its investigation. But NOM wasn’t happy with the decision. John Eastman, NOM’s chair, said in a statement his organization is “disappointed” with the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case, but “will be reviewing” the state’s requests, which the organization says is different now than in 2009. “In their briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, the state appeared to have substantially narrowed the type of information they were requesting from NOM,” Eastman said. “Had the state taken the position they took recently back in 2009, this litigation might well have been avoided. We will be reviewing the requests for information that the state has made in light if the narrow interpretation the State has now provided to its own statute.” Darrin Hurwitz, HRC’s assistant general counsel, responded to NOM’s statement by saying the organization should have complied with Maine laws like other organizations did in the ﬁrst place. “This litigation could have been avoided in 2009 if NOM had chosen to abide by the law then and disclose donors to their Maine efforts as every other organization that participated in Question 1 did,” Hurwitz said. “It’s easy to say that you’ll respond to the state’s requests after you’ve lost a three-year court battle and have no other options.” Gardiner also took issue with the idea that Maine changed what it wanted from NOM since 2009. “I think that may be based on a misunderstanding,” Gardiner said. “The commission’s interpretation of Maine’s statute — what it requires — has not narrowed or changed during the course of this litigation.”
� CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

washingtonblade.com 18 • OCTOBER 5, 2012 COVER STORY: NATIONAL NEWS

AIDS advocates fear impact of ‘ﬁscal cliff’
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Labor & Pensions Committee similarly estimates that 12,219 people in the United States receiving drugs from ADAP would lose access to medicine. The report details how many individuals would lose access for each jurisdiction in the United States. For example, the committee estimates 199 fewer people in D.C. would have access to drugs. In the letter to Congress, the AIDS Institute spells out the reductions to four federal HIV/AIDS programs that would result from sequestration, which amounts to a total reduction of $538 million based on calculations from ﬁscal year 2012 levels: • funding for HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control would be cut by $64 million; • the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides care to low income people with the disease, would be cut by $196 million, including $77 million in cuts from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program; • AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health would be cut by $251 million; • and the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS, or HOPWA, program would be cut by $27 million. One consolation is that funds for Medicare and Medicaid would largely be immune from cuts. Medicare would only be reduced by 2 percent — and those cuts wouldn’t come from programs for patients, but providers. Medicaid, under which 50 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS receive care, won’t see any cuts. The Washington Blade reported in August 2011 at the time President Obama signed the Budget Control Act that the legislation could impact HIV/AIDS programs, and again reported on the issue when the congressional supercommittee established by the legislation failed to provide an alternative to across the board cuts, but cost estimates for reductions weren’t previously known. But the cuts wouldn’t only affect domestic programs aimed at providing care to people with HIV, but global programs as well, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, and U.S. contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Chris Collins, director of policy for amfAR, said the sequestration — commonly referred to as the “ﬁscal cliff” — would have a “devastating impact” on programs aimed at confronting HIV/AIDS overseas. “It would undercut multiple aspects of the global AIDS response from treating people, which we know has a potential for saving lives, but also to preventing infection, as well as programs to help kids who are vulnerable,” Collins said. “Sequestration sets us up for seriously backtracking in response to global AIDS just at the time when we have the ability to really accelerate progress.”

In a brief published Sept. 25, amfAR provides details on the problems that reductions to global AIDS initiatives would cause. As a result of projected decreases to U.S. government bilateral support, HIV/AIDS treatments for 276,500 people wouldn’t be available, potentially leading to 63,000 more AIDS-related deaths and 124,000 more children becoming orphans. The decrease in U.S. contributions to the Global Fund would result in an additional 100,000 people not being treated for HIV/AIDS. In addition to HIV/AIDS programs, federal initiatives that more generally serve the LGBT community would also face cuts under the sequester. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which earlier this year interpreted federal law to allow it to protect transgender workers from discrimination, would face cuts as would the Justice Department’s community relations service to ﬁght hate crimes. Laurie Young, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s director of aging and economic security, said the sequester could have an impact on local LGBT community centers that rely on funds from the federal government. “Any programs ... that are funded out of the Older Americans Act — community health programs, community health centers — any of the programs that receive any kind of federal support could be affected by it,” Young said. Young said the cuts could also affect U.S. governmental efforts in research, including data collection efforts for LGBT people on health surveys, which the Department of Health & Human Services began to implement last year upon requests from LGBT advocates. HIV/AIDS advocates expressed dismay that the pending defense cuts under the sequester — which would reduce the Pentagon’s budget by an estimated $54.7 billion in 2013 — have received attention

in the media, but other programs haven’t received signiﬁcant attention. Crump said big ticket items like defense and Medicare have greater “political clout” behind them, which makes other programs such as HIV/AIDS more vulnerable to cuts. “It makes the non-defense discretionary budget more vulnerable to cuts when these other big ticket items have their champions talking about fencing off or protecting them,” Crump said. “That means we’re going to have to cut more steeply into these other annually funded programs.” Government agencies that operate programs for people with HIV/AIDS referred the Washington Blade to the White House Ofﬁce of Budget & Management, which issued a report on Sept. 14 detailing the extent of cuts to government programs. “As the administration has made clear, no amount of planning can mitigate the effect of these cuts,” the report states. “Sequestration is a blunt and indiscriminate instrument. It is not the responsible way for our nation to achieve deﬁcit reduction.” Amid this fear, observers were generally optimistic that Congress would institute an alternative to the Budget Control Act to avoid the cuts to HIV/AIDS and other programs. A Senate Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an agreement to avoid the sequester would likely be reached after campaign season has concluded. “As much as we like to piss on each other’s boots and do nothing, when there’s a gun to our head, we know it’s time to do something,” the aide said. The aide predicted a proposal similar to previously proposed bipartisan debt reduction plans — those from the Simpson-Bowles Commission, the Domenici-Rivlin Task Force or the “Gang of Six” — would be enacted.

But even if an agreement is reached, concerns persist that Congress could enact a plan that would cut into HIV/ AIDS funds even more so than the Budget Control Act — especially because another agreement on the debt ceiling must be reached in February when the limit will likely be reached. Schmid said an alternative plan that Congress might come up with could reach into currently protected programs of Medicare and Medicaid to pay for budget reduction. “We still have to come up with these cuts, and so they are looking at different ways,” Schmid said. “But Medicare and Medicaid will be back on the table again, and we are concerned about that as well.” Young predicted that any plan Congress would enact for deﬁcit reduction would cut funding for government programs, but it remains to be seen where those cuts would fall. “There’s going to be some pain somewhere because the whole reason that the sequestration was enacted and passed was because of the rampant fears about the outrageous federal deﬁcit,” Young said. “Now I could get on my soap box with you, but the reason that the deﬁcit is the way it is today is because we’ve had 10 or 12 years of tax cuts, and in order to pay our bills we have to have money coming in.” And Crump said if the election results in wins for Republicans, they may feel emboldened to pass a plan similar to what House Budget Committee Chair and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan has proposed, which she said would “cut even more deeply” than sequestration. “There’s a looming series of threats to the whole health care environment that could very much impact the hope that the Affordable Care Act held for improving HIV care and access to care for people with HIV,” Crump said.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 19

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washingtonblade.com 20 • OCTOBER 5, 2012 COVER STORY: LOCAL NEWS

Md. advocates brace for anti-gay ad campaign
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Public records indicate that the campaign to defend Maryland’s same-sex marriage law has purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars of airtime on local television stations ahead of next month’s referendum. Documents posted on the Federal Communications Commission’s website indicate that Marylanders for Marriage Equality has purchased $297,325 of air time on WBAL in Baltimore for 291 30-second advertisements that are scheduled to run from Oct. 10 through Nov. 6. FCC records further note that the campaign has also purchased $253,000.01 worth of airtime on WJLA in D.C. from Oct. 29 through Nov. 6. Marylanders for Marriage Equality has also purchased airtime on WUSA in the nation’s capital, but documents ﬁled with the FCC do not indicate a speciﬁc cost. FCC records further indicate that the campaign has also made inquiries into potential media buys with WJZ in Baltimore and WRC in D.C. Documents further note that Media Strategies and Research of Fairfax, Va., produced the ads. Josh Levin, campaign director of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, declined to answer questions about their speciﬁc content. He stressed, however, that they are part of what he described as the campaign’s ongoing outreach to Maryland voters on Question 6. “We’ve seen the polls tightening in the public numbers over the last week,” said Levin. “That’s why it’s so important for us to get out on the air and get the message out there. We need to get the message to as many people as possible. That’s what we’ve been asking our supporters to do.” Levin told supporters in a Sept. 20 e-mail that said the campaign needed to raise $500,000 over the “next two weeks” to counter Question 6 opponents’ ads. He said in the same fundraising pitch that Marylanders for Marriage Equality had only been able to purchase a week’s worth of television air time “in some places so far.” FCC records indicate that the Maryland

Family Alliance has purchased $93,475 of air time on WBAL for 110 30-second ads that are slated to run from Oct. 8 through Nov. 5. The group has also purchased air time on WMAR in Baltimore. FCC documents note that Frank Schubert of Mission: Public Affairs, LLC, in Sacramento, Calif., on July 12 requested air time on both WJLA and WUSA. Schubert, who is the national political director for the National Organization for Marriage, masterminded the campaign behind California’s voter-approved Proposition 8 that banned nuptials for same-sex couples in 2008. He also led efforts to overturn Maine’s 2009 law that would have allowed gays and lesbians to tie the knot and to pass a constitutional amendment earlier this year in North Carolina that deﬁned marriage as between a man and a woman. Levin implied that his organization’s Sept. 20 appeal was successful. “I think you could draw that conclusion,” he told the Blade.

Marriage campaign needs additional $1 million
O’Malley said during the Oct. 2 fundraiser for Marylanders for Marriage Equality at the D.C. home of gay Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf that the campaign still needs to raise an additional $1 million before Election Day. He told a group of LGBT bloggers and reporters during a Sept. 24 conference call that Marylanders for Marriage Equality needed an additional $2 million ahead of the Nov. 6 election. “This is by no means done,” said O’Malley. “And in your presence here tonight, I hope that when you leave here, you leave here committed to help us turn on the after-burners for the next 36 days.” The D.C. fundraiser took place two days after the Baltimore Sun released a poll that shows 49 percent of likely Maryland voters support the state’s same-sex marriage law, compared to 39 percent who oppose it. A Gonzalez Research poll last week notes

that 51 percent of Marylanders would back Question 6, compared to 43 percent who would vote against it. Meanwhile, Baltimore Ravens center Mark Birk earlier this week spoke out against marriage rights for same-sex couples in an op-ed in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper in his native Minnesota. He also appeared in a Minnesota Catholic Conference web ad in support of a

proposed constitutional amendment that would deﬁne marriage as between a man and a woman in the state. “I can put up with a lot from the government like higher taxes and while I don’t like it, pushing God out of schools. But letting a small number of business and government elites and judges deﬁne what marriage is for Minnesotans doesn’t seem very fair. It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said Birk, who compared a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the state’s same-sex marriage ban to the Iowa Supreme Court decision that led to nuptials for gays and lesbians in the Hawkeye State. “Politicians have said they will try to redeﬁne marriage at their earliest opportunity, even next year if the marriage amendment doesn’t pass. Our culture today of moral relavatism attacks marriage and a lot of our Catholic values, but marriage is the foundation of our society and is deﬁnitely something worth ﬁghting for — my marriage and the institution itself. A lot of people say live and let live; let everybody do what they want. But this is too important of an issue to do that on. We need to stand up and ﬁght for it and preserve it for our sake, for our children’s sake and for the sake of our entire society. The state should have laws to protect marriage because it was around long before the state came around. I don’t think it’s their place to redeﬁne it.” Ravens linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo continues to speak out in support of marriage rights for same-sex couples in Maryland. “We should be doing everything we can to make Maryland families stronger, which is why I support marriage for gay and lesbian couples who want to make a lifetime commitment together,” he says in a Marylanders for Marriage Equality web ad. “People from all walks of life, including gay and lesbian couples, want their children to be in stable homes and protected under the law.” Ayanbadejo is scheduled to attend a Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser with O’Malley in Baltimore on Oct. 8.

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washingtonblade.com 22 • OCTOBER 5, 2012 NEWS DIGEST

Md. ﬁrst lady accepts award in D.C.
The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) on Sunday honored Maryland ﬁrst lady Katie O’Malley for her efforts to combat bullying. “It just breaks my heart when I hear the Tyler Clementi stories or young kids being [picked on] and called horrible things just because of who they are and what they choose to do,” said O’Malley during SMYAL’s annual Fall Brunch at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Southwest Washington. “It’s very, very troubling, so in Maryland we have been able to pass some pretty strong anti-bullying laws. But as I always tell kids when I go to schools you know you can have laws on the book, but it’s really about our culture.” O’Malley, who is a judge on the Baltimore City Circuit Court, has appeared in an “It Gets Better” video for the Trevor Project. She has worked with Facebook and Time Warner to promote National Bullying Prevention Month. O’Malley also spoke at the U.S. Department of Education’s third annual Bullying Prevention Summit that took place in D.C. in August. “You don’t have to be everybody’s friend, but you can look out for each other and you can be kind and we can try to promote that in our culture as best as we can,” she said. “I think it really goes a long way.” O’Malley also expressed optimism

Maryland ﬁrst lady KATIE O’MALLEY was honored by SMYAL for her work to combat bullying.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY JONATHAN ELLIS

that Marylanders will vote for the state’s same-sex marriage law in next month’s referendum. “We’re so hopeful that in just 40-some days we’re going to be able to pass the marriage equality referendum,” she said. SMYAL has worked with thousands of LGBT and questioning youth in the metropolitan area since a group of local activists founded the organization in 1984 in response to reports that young male D.C. public school students who acted “too effeminate” were incarcerated in St. Elizabeth’s Psychiatric Hospital.

Staffers and clients earlier this year testiﬁed in support of the city’s antibullying bill that Mayor Vincent Gray signed into law in June. SMYAL members in May joined Cyndi Lauper on Capitol Hill to raise awareness of homelessness among LGBT youth. Andrew Barnett, the group’s executive director, noted that the new strategic plan that SMYAL adopted in March allows it to identify what he described as key issues facing LGBT youth and how the organization can most effectively respond to them. “A really big piece of our strategic plan

is knowing that there are hundreds, if not thousands of LGBTQ youth across this region, many of whom right now have no safe space. They have no support,” he said. “So a big piece of our strategic plan as we look to SMYAL’s future is to ﬁnd ways for us to bring our programming to them. Finding ways for us to bring what we do at our youth center on Capitol Hill out into suburban Maryland and into Virginia, where we know there’s a huge, huge unmet need.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 23

washingtonblade.com 24 • OCTOBER 5, 2012 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOTEBORG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

‘La Yuma,’ a rare feature-length work from Nicaragua, screens next week at Towson.

Latin American ﬁlm screens at Towson
Towson University’s ﬁlm series “Gender, Sexuality and Desire in Recent Films from Spain and Latin America” presents “La Yuma,” Thursday evening at 6:30 in the College of Liberal Arts Room 3110 (8000 York Road). “La Yuma” is the ﬁrst full-length ﬁction ﬁlm from Nicaragua in 20 years. It presents Yuma, a rebellious young woman who dreams of being a boxer and escaping the barrios of Managua. She falls in love with a journalism student from the other side of the city as they both try to attain their dreams. This event is free. For more information, visit events.towson.edu.

Baltimore Black Pride events in full swing
Baltimore Black Pride events continue today through Thursday with several performances and parties in the Baltimore area. Today begins with Ladies Happy Hour at Ziascoz (1313 E. Pratt St.) at 5 p.m. Later, DJ David Robertson takes over the party. Cover is $5 for both events. At the same time Station North Arts Café (1816 N. Charles St.) hosts “Meet-n-Greet Casual Affair of Art, Music and Fun” at 7. There is no cover for this event. On Saturday, the Cultural Affair and Icons We Love Awards 10th Annual Gala and Fundraiser takes place at Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute Cultural Center (847 N. Howard St.) at 7. Individual tickets are $50 and a couple is $85. Black Pride is hosting numerous spiritual services around the city at a number of participating spiritual centers. In the afternoon there is a Ravens Ladies Tailgate Party at 1313 E. Pratt St. at 2. Cover is $2. Later in the night, Paradox (1310 Russell St.) hosts the Finale: Legacy Global Village and Music Fest starting at 10. Cover is $8 before midnight and $12 after. The ofﬁcial weekend may be over, but the celebration continues with a party for National Coming Out Day at Ziascoz (1313 E. Pratt St.) on Thursday at 5 p.m. There is no cover for this event. For more information about Baltimore Black Pride, visit blackpridebaltimore.org.

‘Midsummer Night’ at Glass Mind
Glass Mind Theatre presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” at the Autograph Playhouse (9 W. 25th St.) tonight at 8. The production of Shakespeare’s “most lamentable comedy” features four lovers seeking solace in the woods when they are caught in the twisted plot of a fairy realm. Regular tickets are $12, but discounted tickets for $8 are available to seniors, students and artists. For more information, visit glassmindtheatre.com.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 23

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Don’t believe the hype in Maryland
Encouraging marriage polls bring risk of complacency
residents won’t feel the urgency to vote because they assume it’s a fait accompli. The same Baltimore Sun poll shows President he plans to release a Maryland version of the Birk video this week The anti-gay Alliance has booked at

The Maryland ballot ﬁght is winnable, but a victory will require everyone’s participation, visibility and vote.
Kevin Naff is editor of Washington Blade and can be reached at knaff@washblade.com.

With the election just a month away, polls in Maryland continue to show solid support for the state’s marriage equality law, which is the subject of a voter referendum. If the measure survives, it will mark a historic ﬁrst in the marriage wars and couples will begin marrying legally in January. A new Baltimore Sun poll found that likely Maryland voters support same-sex marriage 49 to 39 percent. That’s a dramatic shift from March, when an OpinionWorks poll found that likely voters opposed marriage equality, 43-40 percent. Since that time, of course, President Obama endorsed marriage rights for gay couples, as did the NAACP and a parade of celebrities and politicians who followed Obama’s lead. The early bleak polls help explain why national donors — led by the organization Freedom to Marry — skipped over Maryland to focus on the other states facing similar ballot measures: Maine, Washington and Minnesota. But now that the tide appears to have turned, Freedom to Marry and other national donors, including Maryland native and former closeted RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, have scrambled to get on board and contribute. Better late than never, I guess. But the positive polling news brings fears of complacency — that Maryland

Obama leading Mitt Romney by a staggering 57-34 percent. With a lead like that, some voters will surely stay home if, say, the kid is sick or work is busy or it’s raining. And all those polls showing support for marriage equality were taken before the other side has done much in the way of advertising. That is changing. Just this week, Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk went public with his opposition to marriage equality in a video prompted by Minnesota’s referendum; he is expected to record a similar anti-gay message targeting the Maryland effort this week. “Our culture today of moral relativism attacks marriage and a lot of our Catholic values, but marriage is a foundation of our society and it’s deﬁnitely something worth ﬁghting for, my marriage and the institution of marriage itself,” Birk said in the video. “A lot of people say, live and let live, let everybody do what they want, but this is too important of an issue to do that on. We need to ﬁght and preserve it, for our sake for our children’s sake.” Birk’s misguided opposition comes in stark contrast to his teammate Brendon Ayanbadejo’s strong support for marriage equality, which goes back several years. Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, told the Sun, “We saved our videos for October. We’ll start doing more of them,” noting

least $93,000 in airtime on Baltimore’s WBAL for 110 30-second spots that will air between Oct. 8-Nov. 5. And that’s surely just a fraction of what it will spend. Marylanders for Marriage Equality has purchased about $300,000 in airtime on WBAL from Oct. 10-Nov. 6 and $253,000 in airtime on D.C.’s WJLA from Oct. 29Nov. 6, among other buys. Gov. Martin O’Malley said at a Tuesday fundraiser in D.C. that the campaign needs to raise an additional $1 million before Election Day, highlighting the fact that this campaign is far from over. At the same event, D.C.-based Democratic activist (and Blade columnist) Peter Rosenstein presented O’Malley with a $10,000 check from the Campaign for All D.C. Families. It’s gratifying to see Maryland’s neighbor getting involved in the effort and Baltimore’s LGBT community surely has a lot to learn from their D.C. counterparts. The lack of visible activist presence in Baltimore is a longtime problem that allows Matt Birk to spout his anti-gay views with impunity and enables politicians from gay neighborhoods to vote against our equality. Let’s hope Maryland’s LGBT residents can at least muster the energy to open their wallets and get to the polls next month. The Maryland ballot ﬁght is winnable, but a victory will require everyone’s participation, visibility and vote.

Chick-ﬁl-A squawking is egg on our face
of the owners of a particular company being considered repugnant. Worse, as current developments attest, these business opponents appear to now be mostly concerned with saving face. What they are actually doing is putting egg on ours. It’s a wrong-headed strategy – and without an end in sight. They need to stop. Increasingly isolated, prohibition proponents bring discredit to the equality struggle, confuse and anger the public, reveal an intrinsic disrespect for business rights, alienate allies and create unnecessary enemies. There is no beneﬁt to distracting from a discussion of our lives, our stories and our fair and equal treatment under the law. Fewer than one in 16 LGBT voters support the notion that it is appropriate or legal for a local government to threaten to ban or to prohibit a company from conducting business based solely on the political opinions or contributions of the company or its owners, according to a recent Harris poll. Only six percent of LGBT voters and three percent of the general population support such business prohibitions. However, one Chicago politician and some LGBT groups, including a handful of college organizations promoting campus food service bans, appear not to have gotten the message. You can’t blame Chicago alderman Joe Moreno and the Chicago-based LGBT advocacy group The Civil Rights Agenda for attempting to change the discourse dynamic. Moreno, representing the Windy City’s Logan Square neighborhood where the restaurant chain plans to open a location, sparked a wave of ill-advised pronouncements in late July by other politicians joining him in pledging to use government authority to block the permitting of the business in their jurisdictions. When those politicians in cities across the country – including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel – began quickly retracting their statements once public reaction interceded and government attorneys intervened, Moreno became largely isolated in his legally offensive stance. An objective reading of Moreno’s tenuous-toned but self-congratulatory announcement last week declaring that Chick-ﬁl-A had agreed to cease all contributions to anti-gay organizations proved to have as many holes in it as the eatery’s famous wafﬂe fries. Within a day or two, it became clear that no such agreement had been reached. In response, Moreno cackled a claim of dishonesty and betrayal by the business. Posturing as the aggrieved victim in an effort to change the storyline, he appeared either gullible or disingenuous. Moreno has reverted to threatening denial of the required licensing necessary for the Chick-ﬁl-A outlet to open, utilizing the inordinate inﬂuence of a city alderman in such matters. The Civil Rights Agenda supports his indefensible regulatory pose. Chick-ﬁl-A is not accused of discriminating against its LGBT employees or customers, or ﬂouting local anti-discrimination laws. The company’s corporate ﬁnancial support of organizations promoting anti-gay policies is the sole complaint. If you don’t want to support Chick-ﬁlA, don’t spend your money there. Due to pandering politicians and the misdirected mission of LGBT organizations, we now need to demonstrate that we understand the difference between banning and boycotting a business. What’s good for the goose needs to be good for the chicken. Otherwise, we sanction the imposition of unfair and illegal business restrictions against companies supporting LGBT equality. The shoe has got to ﬁt when put on the other foot. Freedom of speech matters most when it is difﬁcult to defend. Public persuasion is our most effective tool, not the tyranny of proprietor prohibition. There is no valor in an ultimate victory built on the vanquishing of liberty for those who disagreed along the way.

Mark Lee is a local small business manager and longtime community business advocate. Reach him at OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.

Chick-ﬁl-A corporate management is on the wrong side of history when it comes to the inevitability of civil marriage equality and full equal rights for gays and lesbians. Unfortunately, a decidedly shrunken number of errant politicians and LGBT organizations stubbornly remain on the wrong side of constitutional law and regulatory fairness regarding the restaurant chain. A still shrill few continue to misguidedly advocate for the blatant infringement of basic business operating protections by decree of either local governments or college campus administrators. Merely due to the beliefs and beneﬁciaries, not discriminatory actions,

VIEWPOINT

Will marriage support cost Obama black votes?
History will not be kind to pastors attacking the president
By REV. IRENE MONROE
African Americans have worked hard to get the vote and to get a man of African descent in the White House. In 2008, we came out in unprecedented numbers with Obama taking 95 percent of the black vote, thanks to the help of his biggest support base: African-American ministers and their parishioners. In this 2012 election, Obama’s biggest support base will drop precipitously. And it will be because of both the Democratic Party’s and Obama’s pronouncement on marriage equality. Before the opening of the Democratic National Convention, the party released its 2012 platform with its theme, Moving America Forward.” One of the major party planks in the platform is its full-throated support of marriage equality. “We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples.” Many Obama supporters embrace the platform’s theme of “Moving America Forward” but feel that the party’s support of same-sex marriage is risky if not outright political suicide in such a tight and contentious race for the White House. “We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference,” the platform states. With one of Obama’s largest and most loyal voting blocs being African Americans who are also largely Democratic and conservative Christians, the big worry is not that African Americans would overwhelmingly cast a ballot for Mitt Romney; it’s that they might not come out in large numbers to the polls in November. “This is the ﬁrst time in black church history that I’m aware of that black pastors have encouraged their parishioners not to vote,” Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant of Baltimore told the Associated Press. Bryant has formed the Empowerment Network, a national coalition of about 30 denominations working to register African-American parishioners. Bryant, too, opposes same-sex marriage, and has stated that Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality is “at the heart” of the problem for black Christians. In 2008, according to the Pew Research Center, approximately 95 percent of the African-American populace cast their ballot for Obama, and only 26 percent were in favor of same-sex marriage. Before Obama publicly announced his support for marriage equality in May, according to Pew results in April, 49 percent of African Americans were not in favor of samesex marriage while only 39 percent favored it. And since Obama’s announcement, the numbers of those in opposition to same-sex marriage have not declined among the black church populace. And some African-American ministers have come out more forcefully against Obama. For example, the Rev. William Owens, president and founder of the Memphis-based Coalition of African Americans Pastors. Given his inﬂuence and clout among black clerics in the area, Owens believes that the president has gone too far in his LGBT support. Owens told the Associated Press in late July that he “would lead a national effort to rally black Americans to rethink their overwhelming support of the president over the same-sex issue” and “save the family.” Owens is outraged and feels the president is taking the African-American vote for granted. While I would like to dismiss Owens’ rant as just another homophobic minister and an outlier in what I perceive will be a huge turnout of black voters for Obama, sadly, to date Owens has parlayed his outrage into a small but growing movement. He has more than 3,742 black ministers and their churches on board with his anti-Obama campaign. Why are African Americans, especially conservative Christians, still stuck on this issue? One reason is that church doctrine throughout all the African-American denominations hasn’t changed on the topic of homosexuality, keeping the church tethered to an outdated notion of human sexuality, and a wrong-headed notion of what constitutes civil rights. Another reason is that many AfricanAmerican ministers still believe the institution of marriage, at least within the black family, is under assault, and LGBT people exacerbate the problem. For these ministers, some of whom support LGBT civil rights but draw the line on same-sex marriage, espousing their opposition to same-sex marriage is a way to combat the epidemic of fatherlessness in black families. In scapegoating the LGBT community, these clerics are ignoring the social ills behind black fatherlessness, such as the systematic disenfranchisement of both African-American men and women, high unemployment, high incarceration and poor education, to name a few. If the ﬁrst African-American president loses his reelection bid because of certain black pastors’ homophobic views on marriage equality, that would be tragic, and history would not look kindly on their actions.
� CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Rev. Irene Monroe is a Boston-based freelance writer.

28 • OCTOBER 5, 2012

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

This is bound to have a This is bound to have a huge impact on Mercedes, huge impact on Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

BMW and Audi.

This is bound to have a huge impact on Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

The 2012 Volvo S60 – Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s new Small Overlap Frontal Crash Test. the highest-rated European Luxury Vehicle in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s new Small Overlap Frontal Crash Test.
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To learn more about the results, go to

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new opportunities to improve on passenger safety. Because at Volvo, we don’t build cars to merely pass crash tests; we build them for the people who will eventually drive them. And that evidently is making a big impact.

D.C. Lambda Squares celebrating 30th anniversary this weekend
By KEITH LORIA
On any given Thursday night, a group of about 65 people from the LGBT community gather in the music suite of National City Christian Church to square dance with their friends. But don’t expect to see cowboy hats, prairie skirts or couples doing the “Dosey Doe.” These square dancers dress

casually, have no couple requirements, allow all-positioning dancing and the caller is using a Lady Gaga song. One thing’s for sure: This is not your grandparents’ square dancing. Since 1982, the D.C. Lambda Squares have been bringing a level of excitement and energy to the dance ﬂoor that was once unheard of in the square dance community. “It was founded by a group of gay men and lesbians who wanted to square dance but at the time, straight clubs were nonaccepting of same-sex couples square dancing, or people dancing other than in

their traditional position,” says Joe Harr, president of the D.C. Lambda Squares. “They formed this club so they could dance the way they wanted to.” Today, the club is open to young and old, singles or couples and beginners or advanced dancers. Anyone interested can visit the group online at dclambdasquares.org. “My favorite part is the people involved are very welcoming and open and it’s just a relaxed atmosphere,” Harr says. “There are various gay square dance clubs throughout the U.S., and an international association and many people take part in other weekend dances.”

In addition to D.C. Lambda Squares’ regular Thursday-night get-together, which meets from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in D.C. at National City Christian Church (5 Thomas Circle, NW), eight times a year, the club holds a community dance at Francis Scott Key Middle School (910 Schindler Dr.) in Silver Spring, Md. In honor of the organization’s 30th anniversary, the Lambda Squares are holding a party Saturday at Francis Scott Key Middle School with Doren McBroom set to call. “A 30th anniversary is the pearl
CONTINUES ON PAGE 45

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN OUT AND WHO WAS THE HARDEST PERSON TO TELL? I’ve been out since I was 28 years old and I’m now 44 so it’s been 16 years. My father was the hardest to tell. He and I haven’t spoken since I came out. WHO’S YOUR LGBT HERO? Harvey Milk. WHAT’S WASHINGTON’S BEST NIGHTSPOT, PAST OR PRESENT? I’m boring so I don’t really know of many but I love Town for Bear Happy Hour on Friday nights. DESCRIBE YOUR DREAM WEDDING.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

IF YOUR LIFE WERE A BOOK, WHAT WOULD THE TITLE BE? “The Indignity of Being a Dog” IF SCIENCE DISCOVERED A WAY TO CHANGE SEXUAL ORIENTATION, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Nothing. I love being gay. I believe that God created me this way. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN BEYOND THE PHYSICAL WORLD? I believe in Karma. Do right unto others because if not, a higher life force has a sense of humor. WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE FOR LGBT MOVEMENT LEADERS? Make every decision through the lens of young people and you’ll be doing the right thing. WHAT WOULD YOU WALK ACROSS HOT COALS FOR? A vodka/cran on a Friday night. WHAT LGBT STEREOTYPE ANNOYS YOU MOST? That all gay men are funny, like Jack from “Will & Grace.” WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LGBT MOVIE? “The Birdcage” WHAT’S THE MOST OVERRATED SOCIAL CUSTOM? Putting up the toilet seat. Why? WHAT TROPHY OR PRIZE DO YOU MOST COVET? “Jeopardy!” champion. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU’D KNOWN AT 18? Me at 44. WHY WASHINGTON? It’s the nation’s capital and where laws that change our lives will be passed.

By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com It’s not a particularly good time to ask Fred Sainz about the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner. It’s a weekday morning just days before the annual event and he, like many at the LGBT rights organization, is bogged down in details and logistics. “It’s almost like giving birth,” he says. “You know, it’s an incredibly exciting event but you kind of can’t wait for it to be over too.” The event is Saturday evening at the Convention Center (801 Mt. Vernon Place N.W.) and is sold out. Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker, NAACP President Ben Jealous and actress Sally Field are slated to appear. A troupe from Cirque du Soleil will perform. About 3,000 are expected. Details are at hrcnationaldinner.org. Sainz came to HRC about two-and-a-half years ago and works as vice president of communications and marketing. The 44-year-old Miami-area native says it’s been satisfying work. “It’s really been the privilege of a lifetime to be able to do this work and a special honor to be able to work here at this time in the movement’s history,” he says. “I arrived one week before the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal bill dropped in May 2010 so it has been a roller coaster and truly one of the greatest experiences of my life.” Sainz, a former Republican, went to school in Washington, served in the ﬁrst Bush White House, then moved to San Diego to work on the ’96 Republican National Convention. He stayed there working at various jobs over the next 14 years before going to Denver where he spent two years working at the Gill Foundation, which he says was “amazing” and prepared him for his position at HRC. Sainz is “dating someone special” but doesn’t go into details. He lives in Washington and enjoys working out, movies and traveling in his free time.

I think weddings (not marriage, but weddings) suck up a lot of money and create unnecessary anxiety. I think a city hall marriage with people that you are close to is preferable. WHAT NON-LGBT ISSUE ARE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT? Virtually any social justice issue. WHAT HISTORICAL OUTCOME WOULD YOU CHANGE? Castro’s takeover of Cuba in 1959. My parents immigrated to this country from Cuba. Imagine leaving the country of your birth and immigrating to another country, virtually penniless and without speaking the language at 28 years old; that’s what they did. In search of better lives and to be free from oppression, they came to the U.S. WHAT’S BEEN THE MOST MEMORABLE POP CULTURE MOMENT OF YOUR LIFETIME? The release of Madonna’s ﬁrst album. ON WHAT DO YOU INSIST? Honesty and straightforwardness. WHAT WAS YOUR LAST FACEBOOK POST OR TWEET? About HRC’s National Dinner this Saturday.

DANE FIGUEROA EDIDI in ‘Shape,’ a force/collision production. If you want to see it, act fast — it closes Saturday.

Shifting ‘Shape’
World premiere depicts married Vaudevillians on tour
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Young local company force/collision isn’t afraid to take on tough material. Their last production was a site-speciﬁc project inspired by the Washington Navy Yard performed over a nippy spring weekend in outdoor fountains at a park on the Southwest Waterfront. Now, the ensemble is tackling very different-butequally challenging work by experimental dramatist Erik Ehn titled “Shape” (currently nearing the end of a world premiere run at Atlas Performing Arts Center). In both cases, the productions have proved intriguing and visually compelling. Roughly based on the lives AfricanAmerican vaudevillians Billy and Cordelia McClain, “Shape” follows the married couple’s experiences over time as they move from place to place. As the lights come up, the scene is set by Survivor (the excellent Dexter Hamlett), a narrator who’s big on lyricism but short on concrete detail (thank goodness for program notes). It’s turn-of-the-century Ambrose Park, Brooklyn where Billy (Frank Britton) and Cordelia (Dane Figuero Edidi) are headlining in “Black America,” a true life spectacle in which about 500 black entertainers gloriﬁed plantation life in the Old South. After the Brooklyn show closes, the couple sojourns to Europe where they eschew their usual daily dose of minstrelsy for racier entertainments — Cordelia introduces a new sexy Jazz Age act while Billy ﬁnds adventure in the arms of myriad other women. The marriage crumbles and they return to the states where Billy is on hand for the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, a hideous episode in American history that left thousands of black families homeless and scores dead. Director John Moletress, who is gay, leads a talented design team in admirably presenting Ehn’s sometimes puzzling play. Collin Ranney (also gay) transforms Atlas’ black box theater into an enchanted place. Above a lawn of excelsior hang tiny glowing fairy houses that rise and fall like the vaudevillians fortunes. In the center sits a stump; nearby there’s an old steamer trunk. At either end of the space are billowy sails, bookending a small world both redolent of the past, of suggestive voyage and escape. Ariel J. Benjamin’s dramatic lighting and Derek V. Knoderer’s equally evocative soundscape add to the overall effect. And while the production is visually appealing, and boasts inventive staging (random chairs and a few actors magically morph into a railroad passenger car) and a strong cast, its lack of linear narrative can be frustrating at times, especially since Ehn is tying historical facts to larger themes. (“Shape” is part of Ehn’s “Soulographie,” a series of 17 plays about genocide and reconciliation.) Mostly, it’s best to sit back and let Ehn’s dreamlike prose wash over you; enjoy the production’s haunting songs, stirring, avian-inspired movement and the dedicated cast. Figueroa Edidi’s Cordelia is sublime: a diva with a sense of humor. She’s resilient but not wholly inured to life’s hardships. In one of his stronger performances, Britton captures Billy as the charming philanderer. Other standouts include Karin Rosnizek’s clueless French reporter and Luci Murphy as a soulful, singing vaudevillian. The parts of Cordelia and her maid (S. Lewis Feemster) have been cast with male actors, heightening theatricality and a focus on identity. The choice also pays homage to black vaudevillians of the early 20th century who often played crossgendered roles. With “Shape,” force/collision strikingly fulﬁlls its mission to create new performance works. And while “Shape” is sometimes hard to follow, it’s always beautiful to watch.
‘SHAPE’ force/collision Atlas Performing Arts Center 1333 H Street, NE $10-$25 202-399-7993, ext. 2 atlasarts.org

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY and ZAC EFRON in new ﬁlm ‘The Paperboy.’ The sordid tale opens today in the D.C. area.

Summer of ‘69
Gay-helmed ‘Paperboy’ fails to gel despite strong cast
By BRIAN T. CARNEY
“The Paperboy” has an impressive pedigree. It’s directed by Lee Daniels, the openly gay director who made a striking debut with “Precious.” It’s based on an awardwinning novel by Pete Dexter. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, Macy Gray, Nicole Kidman and John Cusack. But unfortunately, despite this great promise and a strong start, this steamy tale of sex and violence, which opens today at Landmark E Street Cinemas in the D.C. area and at the Angelika Mosaic in Fairfax, Va., loses steam partway through. Set in 1969, “The Paperboy” tells the story of two brothers who return to their hometown in rural northern Florida. Zac Efron plays Jack Jensen, a collegiate swimmer who has been kicked off the team and expelled from college. His father, the staunchly traditional publisher of the local paper (a great performance by a gruff Scott Glenn), puts him to work as a paperboy. Matthew McConaughey plays Ward Jensen, a hot-shot reporter for a Miami newspaper who returns home with his ambitious writing partner Yardley Acheman (David Oyelowo) to investigate a claim of wrongful imprisonment. The convict in question is Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack) who has been jailed for killing an abusive sheriff. Pleading his case is the sultry Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman), a death row groupie who has become engaged to Van Wetter even though they have never met. She has assembled boxes of evidence calling the prosecution’s case into question. Smelling a juicy story, the newsmen pursue leads through the squalid swamp shacks of Van Wetter’s relatives and the equally sordid ofﬁces of corrupt lawyers and law men. The movie is well steeped in the traditions of the Southern Gothic: lies, sexual tension, racism, politics, hypocrisy, psychosis, hidden secrets, brutal violence and twisted family histories. The plot, of course, is full of twists and turns, including an unexpected revelation about a character’s sexual orientation and unorthodox sexual tastes. The ﬁlm vividly recreates the look and feel of lurid period potboilers. Cinematographer Roberto Schaefer uses an intense saturated color palette to perfectly capture the stiﬂing settings and sweltering temperatures. Composer Mario Grigorov effectively combines period music with original compositions to capture the shifting moods and alliances. The cast throw themselves into the tawdry characters with admirable conviction. Zac Efron proves that he has made the transition from Disney star to Hollywood actor (although his fans will be pleased to know that he spends much of the movie shirtless and is frequently seen in his underwear). He displays Jack’s intense loyalties, inchoate anger, smoldering lust and casual cruelties with admirable restraint, especially given the emotional excesses of the story. John Cusack is chilling as the convicted killer who may be much cannier than he looks. Nicole Kidman radiates sexual energy and an aching need as the vampy Charlotte, a siren who gets caught in her own snare. She looks great in the period styles and brings surprising depth to what could be a one-dimensional character. Her fearless performance includes some of the ﬁlm’s already infamous scenes: dancing in the rain with Efron, applying the traditional cure for a jellyﬁsh sting to him and bringing Cusack to a jailhouse orgasm from the other side of the room. Macy Gray is somewhat less successful as Anita Chester, the Jensen family maid, but the fault lies with the direction and writing. The thankless role never quite escapes the well-worn Hollywood shorthand of the maternal black maid. Further, Anita awkwardly and unnecessarily serves as the movie’s narrator, telling the story from a confusing variety of perspectives. At one point, she is being interviewed by a journalist; at other times, she simply adds colorful commentary to the action; at other times, she controls the action of the movie, telling the audience, for example, that they don’t need to see any more of an unfolding sex scene as the camera cuts away. The unsteady pacing, uncertain direction and uneven writing (the screenplay is by Daniels and Dexter) sadly rob the ﬁlm of much of its potential impact. Fans of the genre and fans of the talented cast will be amply rewarded, but this is deﬁnitely not a ﬁlm for all audiences.

Legendary Broadway singer/actress Patti LuPone comes to the Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda) tonight and Saturday at 8. In her show “Matters of the Heart,” she explores love songs by several different composers such as Stephen Sondheim, Cyndi Lauper and Joni Mitchell. She comes to the Strathmore right before she returns to Broadway in the David Mamet play “The Anarchist.” LuPone is known for her performances in “Evita,” “Gypsy,” as well as “Les Miserables.” She has earned two Tony Awards along with Drama Desk Awards and the Society of London Theatre’s Olivier Award. Tickets range from $45-$85. For more information, visit Strathmore.org.

Shi-Queeta’s back for more at the Howard
PHOTO COURTESY BILLIONS

PERFUME GENIUS plays the Hamilton next week.

Musical ‘Genius’ to play the Hamilton
Perfume Genius, the performance outﬁt of openly gay Seattle-based singer/ songwriter Mike Hadreas, plays the Hamilton at 14th and F (the old Border’s site at 600 14th Street N.W.) on Oct. 12. Dusted opens the 8:30 p.m. show. Hadreas earned kudos for his jarring 2010 debut album “Learning,” which Drowned in Sound called “an album of rare redemptive beauty … one of the most uniquely endearing and quietly forceful debut albums of recent years.” Of new album “Put Your Back N 2 It,” he says, “Everyone has stuff. Staying healthy can be more depressing and confusing than being fucked up, but I want to make music that’s honest and hopeful.” Tickets are $17. Visit thehamiltondc.com for details.

Howard Theatre (620 T St., N.W.) hosts the female impersonation show “Salute to the Divas” Wednesday at 8 p.m. The show features celebrity female impersonator Shi-Queeta-Lee and other celebrity impersonators as they bring divas such as Tina Turner, Cher, Beyonce and Diana Ross to the stage. The cast also takes the audience to the likes of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Lee and company are returning after a successful debut at the Howard in August. Shi-Queeta-Lee is a D.C.-based female impersonator who has been featured in many big named shows and festivals such as Black Pride. The doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of the show. For more information, visit thehowardtheatre.com.

Center event next Friday night
The D.C. Center hosts its annual Fall Reception at the Soﬁtel (806 15th St. NW) on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. The reception is a beneﬁt event for the Center and an opportunity to reﬂect on the work and contributions of several individuals in the LGBT community. Tickets range from $45-$200. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Chef Adam Goldman’s new fall menu makes for great patio dining on the MASA ROOPTOP.

Up the ladder to the roof
New Masa 14 space shows off chef’s bold creations
By JONATHAN HOWARD
Change abounds at Masa 14 (1825 14th Street NW) where a new-ish (it opened in May) patio features an updated menu and a new executive chef is on board. At a rooftop reception on Sept. 17, restaurant partners Richard Sandoval, Kaz Okochi and Ivan Iricanin introduced Adam Goldman who’s at the helm of this popular Latin-Asian-inspired restaurant that’s been a 14th Street mainstay since it opened in the fall of 2009. Goldman graduated from Johnson and Wales University in Norfolk, Va., in 2003, but Goldman has always been interested in the culinary arts. “I grew up cooking with my mom and grandma,” says Goldman, “but I started really cooking about 13 years ago at Boy Scout camp when the cook at camp refused to make meals for vegetarian campers.” After graduating Goldman started working in Rockville, Md., where he served in numerous positions at Addie’s Restaurant. Goldman says he has experience with all types of cuisine since starting his career, “from barbecue to ﬁne Italian.” He joined the Masa 14 team two years ago and served as sous chef under former executive chef Antonio Burrell. Goldman believes that the new rooftop at Masa 14 will bring a different clientele and a different ﬂair to the restaurant. It offers a different type of menu as well — it’s designed so patrons enjoy bites that can be eaten with one hand while enjoying a beverage with the other. The new rooftop is impeccably done and on a warm autumn evening a couple dozen people, including a guest and myself, kept the patio buzzing with activity. We were served tasting portions of ﬁve of the six new dishes that were recently added to the downstairs dinner menu prepared by Goldman. We were also handed two delicious new fall-inspired drinks. The Masa Smoked Cider made with Mezcal, cinnamon-infused whiskey and mulled cider and the Autumn on 14th, which is bourbon, balsamic syrup (yes like balsamic vinaigrette in a drink) brown sugar and ginger beer. Just to make sure that I liked them both, I consumed two of each over the course of the evening. These drinks were rich and warm, perfect for the fall and they paired very well with the spicy ﬂavors of the bites that were served. Goldman says he loves the Thai ﬂavor proﬁle, “sweet, spicy and salty hitting all the right taste buds, without one being overwhelming.” Goldman wants to keep with the Latin Asian theme of Masa 14, but also introduce different styles of cuisine with this theme. The new ﬂavors can be tasted in the new items we dined on. The cream of corn soup with sweet corn tomato relish, scallion lump crab and cayenne chili oil is a tasty example of the Thai ﬂavor proﬁle, this was also my favorite dish at the reception. Other great new dishes include the roasted beet salad with curried goat cheese, the wok stir fried mussels with aji Amarillo cream sauce and crumbled chorizo, and cornmeal-crusted oysters with green papaya slaw and pickled Fresno chilies. Finally, there was the perfectly balanced salmon tartar with roasted red pepper, green mango chimichurri and togarashi-toasted wonton crisps. Both my guest and I had a couple servings of the salmon. Goldman’s favorite new item on the menu however, is none of the items we tried at the reception — the brussels sprouts. He came up with the recipe just a couple days before the new menu was premiered. “If you want to try them you will have to come back,” says Goldman. There seem to be plenty of reasons to go back to Masa 14. They have new drinks, new food, a new patio, and of course a new executive chef. Goldman brings his unexpected and spicy ﬂavors to this Latin-Asian fusion restaurant that brings ﬁne dining in a laid back atmosphere to 14th Street.

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Lunch Specials
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5-7 pm • All Areas of Restaurant $1 Sashimi/Sushi
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Offers may vary. Happy Hours details available at the restaurant.

Two become one?
It takes balance to ﬁnd the healthy point of relationship sacriﬁce
for you do to what you want, even though it’s what she doesn’t want. Openly disagreeing on what is most important will help both of you develop your ability to deal with conﬂict openly, rather than avoiding open conﬂict by giving in, as you have been doing. With regard to spending time with your ex, if you aren’t violating any agreement with Susan (such as monogamy), do you know why she feels threatened? Are you doing anything to diminish Susan’s trust in you? Many of us have the fantasy that we’ll have a wonderful partner who will “make me feel safe,” but your partner’s safety is not your responsibility. When we are children, it’s our parents’ job to keep us safe, but as we grow up, the job falls squarely in our own laps. And we’re the only ones who can truly take responsibility for our own safety.
� CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Michael Radkowsky is a licensed psychologist who works with gay couples and individuals in D.C. He can be found online at personalgrowthzone.com. Send him questions at michael@personalgrowthzone.com.

DEAR MICHAEL: My girlfriend Susan and I have been dating for two years and are engaged to be married. But I’m getting cold feet because I feel like I’m losing myself in our relationship. We spend most of our free time together and I’ve dropped my choral group, which I love, as it kept us apart two evenings a week. (In all fairness, Susan dropped soccer, which I hate playing and ﬁnd incredibly boring to watch). Also, I no longer spend time with my best friend Lisa (my long-ago ex), because our friendship made Susan nervous and she said she couldn’t stay in a relationship where she didn’t feel safe. I miss Lisa and feel terrible about not seeing her. I love Susan and love being with her but I feel like I’m suffocating sometimes. It seems like I either have to refrain from doing things that are important to me or really upset Susan. Both choices seem awful. Can you give me some guidance? —Getting Lost in My Relationship DEAR LOST: Being in a relationship is a balancing act: You are both an individual and part of a couple. If you only do what you want, you won’t have much of a relationship and may alienate your partner. And if you think of your spouse as “my other half” and are only part of a couple, you risk losing your own identity and being pretty miserable. How are you (and Susan, for that matter) making the decision to stop doing what is important to you? If you are getting a guilt trip about doing things that you love but Susan hates, or if you guilt-tripped Susan over her soccer games, please remember that although many of us believe that our partners should not let us down, disappointment is unavoidable in relationships. You will, at times, be greatly disappointed in your partner; and you will, at times, be a great disappointment to your partner. Trying to avoid disappointing Susan is almost impossible. Even if you seek to do whatever she wants, she may wind up disappointed in your spinelessness. You may want to consider a new tack: letting Susan down when it’s really important

Family planning
New novel explores male couple’s baby plight
from his mother, and Pat wanted a family like the one he never had. He knew about surrogacy and researched more, which is how he and Stu ended up meeting Debora and Danny Neuman. Debora was sassy and beautiful, a Brazilian Jew with a charming grasp on the English language. Danny was reticent but friendly, if not a little nervous. They had an adorable 4-year-old daughter, they said their family was complete and they only wanted to be able to help someone else have a family. Agreements were made. Papers were signed. But when month after month passed with no pregnancy, Patrick and Stu began to unravel. Debora and Danny’s relationship began to fray, too, so Debora started to rely on Pat’s friendship. Could a baby — maybe? — put everything back the way it was before? You have to love a story that makes you a little scared to move on to the next chapter because you’ve come to care about the characters so much. Fortunately, that’s what will happen when you read “The Paternity Test.” Told from the perspective of one almost-parent, this novel is rich with angst and eagerness, laced with past-inﬂicted pain, yet still hopeful. Author Michael Lowenthal perfectly depicts the emotions of trying to start a family. Beginning slow in his storytelling, he just as slowly builds to an almost-see-it-coming, tense-but-can’tlook-away ending that will leave readers feeling strangely, breathlessly pensive. You can expect a lot from this story of expectations met and dashed, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed because it’s one of those novels that will stick in your mind.
‘THE PATERNITY TEST’ By Michael Lowenthal University of Wisconsin Press $26.95 288 pages

CEC-006-GhostsAndGoblets_BladeAd_V5.indd 1

9/25/12 2:36 PM

THURSDAY OCTOBER 11 • 8 PM - 11 PM

Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was 3 years old. She lives in Wisconsin with two dogs and 12,000 books. Reach her at bookwormsez@yahoo.com.

A lot of the things you’ve done in your life, you’ve done just for kicks. You’ve taken dares to alleviate boredom. Taken risks on what-the-heck whims. You’ve done things legal and illegal for no other reason than that they were there and it seemed like a good idea at the time. But when it comes to having a family, the only kicks you want are the ones from your unborn child. In the new book “The Paternity Test” by Michael Lowenthal, getting to that point, for two prospective fathers, almost gives their relationship the boot. Patrick Faunce met Stuart Nadler at a charity event. Stu, an airline pilot, once had boyfriends near every major airport. It was something Pat learned not to question so he just stayed at home, working and worrying, never knowing if he was good enough, always overthinking. Pat had been in love with both boys and girls before, but he was afraid of losing Stu. So when the Faunce family vacation house on Cape Cod fell into Pat’s ownership, he convinced Stu to move. It was a perfect place for a start-over, which made things better but still bumpy. This time, though, it wasn’t all Stu’s fault: Patrick realized he wanted a baby. His childhood had been marked by a largely absent father and hints of inﬁdelity

washingtonblade.com OUT & ABOUT OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 43

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Universal Gear held a fashion show showcasing its underwear and fall fashions on Sept. 27.

washingtonblade.com 44 • OCTOBER 5, 2012
E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade.com two weeks prior to your event. Space is limited so priority is given to LGBT-speciﬁc events or those with LGBT participants. Recurring events must be re-submitted each time.

CALENDAR
For details, visit www.apaﬁlm2012.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 6

TODAY
Whitman-Walker holds HIV testing at Anacostia Metro Station (1101 Howard Road SE) this afternoon from 1-3:30 p.m. For more information, visit whitmanwalker.org. Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-11 p.m. This event is for people 21 and older. There is no cover charge. For details, visit towndc.com. The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) is having its happy hour tonight starting at 5 p.m. All drinks are half off until 7:30 p.m. After 9 p.m., admission is $10. The dance ﬂoor opens at 11 with DJ TimNice and DJ Cameron. For details, visit thebachelorsmill.com. Phase 1 (528 8th St. SE) has its weekly dance party with DJ Jay Von Teese tonight starting at 7:30. Cover is $10. For more information, visit phase1dc.com. The DC Asian Paciﬁc American Film Festival continues tonight at 7 at Freer and Sackler Gallery of Art (1050 Independence Ave. SW) and later at 8 at the Goethe-Institut (812 7th St. NW). The festival is featuring ﬁlms through Sunday, and tickets range from $12-$20. A VIP pass for all the screenings is $88.

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, is helping in food preparation and packing groceries for Food and Friends (219 Riggs Road, NE) this morning at 8. Later in the same morning, the group volunteers with the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation at Falls Church PetSmart (6100 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church) at 11:45 a.m. The organization is looking for dog handlers for their adoption events. For more information, visit burgundycrescent.org. Adah Rose Gallery (3766 Howard Ave., Kensington) hosts the opening reception for “The Day Turned Into the City and the City Turned Into the Mind,” a series of paintings by Tom Drymon and photographs by Julie Wolstynski, this evening at 6:30. The night will include live music by White Chihuahua. For details, visit adahrosegallery.com. Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) holds its weekly Martini Sundays and Homowood Karaoke tonight. Karaoke starts at 10 p.m. and there is no charge for admission. For details, visit cobaltdc.com. Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts “WTF: Check Up” tonight starting at 10. Cover is

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO

A still from ‘CALL ME KUCHU,’ which will be screened at the Katzen Art Center in Washington next week.

$5. For more information, visit towndc.com.

MONDAY, OCT. 8

SUNDAY, OCT. 7

The Youth Working Group Meeting is this evening at 6 at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., NW). The group is dedicated to positively impaction D.C. youth. For more information, visit thedccenter.org. Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts its Martini Monday tonight at 10 p.m. There is now cover charge and martinis are $5. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com. Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14th St., NW) holds its HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group tonight at 7. It is a conﬁdential support group for anyone recently diagnosed with HIV and the group welcomes all genders and sexual orientations. For details, visit whitmanwalker.org.

TUESDAY, OCT. 9

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force builds the power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the ground up. The Task Force is the country’s premier social justice organization fighting to improve the lives of LGBT people and working to create positive, lasting change and opportunity for all. Reports to: Chief Financial Officer Position Location: Washington, DC The Human Resources Director is responsible for all aspects of human resources, including the Task Force’s programs for recruiting, orientation, workplace training, and employee performance evaluation. Qualifications: Minimum of three (3) years experience in a senior role managing a human resources or personnel function. Three (3) to five (5) years experience designing, implementing and managing in-service training and professional development programs. Extensive experience counseling employees and dealing with a diverse employee base. Ability to manage multiple tasks and work independently with consistent follow through. Excellent organizational, writing and oral communication skills required. Experience working in a multi-cultural environment where commitment to diversity based on race, ethnic origin, gender, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression is an important institutional value. For more information about this position visit our website: http://www.thetaskforce.org/about_us/employment/director_human_resources Applications: Salary commensurate with experience plus excellent benefits. Please submit a cover letter and resume addressing your experience with the above responsibilities and describing your interest in being a member of the Task Force staff. If possible, please submit the names and affiliations of three references. We do accept applications via email for this position at hr@thetaskforce.org; please write “Director of HR” in the subject line. Or submit a hard copy cover letter and resume to: Human Resources Department, 1325 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005. The Task Force is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, personal appearance, family responsibility, political affiliation or any other status protected by applicable law. Women, transgender people, veterans, and people of color are especially encouraged to apply.

DC Bi Women meets tonight at 7 at Dupont Italian Kitchen (1637 17th St. NW) in the upstairs room. For details, visit thedccenter.org. Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) hosts its Safer Sex Kit packing program tonight from 7-10:30. The packing program is looking for more volunteers to help produce the kits because they say they are barely keeping up with demand. Admission is free and volunteers can just show up. For more information, visit thedccenter.org. Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) hosts its Flashback dance night with DJ Jason Royce starting at 10 p.m. There is no cover charge. For more details, visit cobaltdc.com. Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14th St., NW) holds its Coming Out-Women support group tonight at 7 p.m. This is a 10-week conﬁdential discussion group for women who are exploring their interest in other women. It is open to all women regardless of age or experience in the coming out process. Registration is required to attend. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.

The Lambda Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., SE) for duplicate bridge. Everyone is welcome and reservations are not needed. For more information, visit lambdabridge.com. Rainbow Response Monthly Meeting meets tonight at 7 at the D.C. Center (1318 U St. NW). This is a group of individuals collaborating to address intimate partner violence among the LGBT people in the D.C. area. For more information, visit thedccenter.org. Phase 1 (525 8th St. SE) hosts Jell-o wrestling tonight at 9. Attendees can enjoy $3 Miller Lights and Bourbon Gingers along with $4 shots of Hornitos. The club asks attendees to bring a towel and a change of clothes if they want to wrestle. For details, visit phase1dc.com. The Big Gay Book Group meets tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss the gay classic “Kiss of the Spider Woman” by Manuel Puig, which explores sharp dialogue between a young socialist revolutionary and a middle-aged movie-obsessed gay man in an Argentine jail cell. Members meet at 1155 F Street NW, Suite 200. Newcomers welcome. For details, e-mail to biggaybookgroup@hotmail.com or visit biggaybookgroup.com.

THURSDAY, OCT. 11

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14th St., NW) holds its gay men over 50 support group this evening at 6:30 p.m. The group is for gay men entering a new phase of life. Registration is required to attend. For more information, visit whitman-walker.org. Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14th St., NW) holds its HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group tonight at 7. It is a conﬁdential support group for anyone recently diagnosed with HIV and the group welcomes all genders and sexual orientations. For details, visit whitmanwalker.org.

Whitman-Walker Health provides HIV testing at The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) tonight at 10. For details, visit whitman-walker.org. “Call Me Kuchu,” a documentary about LGBT individuals in Uganda, is being screened at the Katzen Arts Center (4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW) this evening at 5:30. A q&a session will take place after the showing. For details, visit thedccenter.org. D.C. Center hosts a reception with Blessed B Rwomushana, who works with Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights for Youth in Uganda, tonight at 6. There is a $5 suggested donation. For more information, visit thedccenter.org. Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, is helping in food preparation and packing groceries for Food and Friends (219 Riggs Road, NE) this evening at 6. For more information, visit burgundycrescent.org. Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) is hosting its weekly Best Package Contest tonight at 9 p.m. There is a $3 cover and there are $2 vodka drinks. Participants in the contest can win $200 in cash prizes. The event is hosted by Lena Lett and music by DJ Chord, DJ Madscience, and DJ Sean Morris. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

washingtonblade.com ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT OCTOBER 5, 2012 • 45

Lambda Squares celebrating 30th anniversary
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BLADE FILE PHOTO BY DOUG HINCKLE

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anniversary, so we are telling everyone to wear pearls for this event,” Harr says. “Our last community dance was a beach theme so people came in their bathing suits. We expect everyone to have a great time.” Other regular callers are Dayle Hodge and club members Kent Forester and Brian Jarvis. John Burlison, a former club president who has been a member since 2000, has watched the club’s membership ebb and ﬂow over the last dozen years and is happy that interest is on the upswing. “The people I learned with was the largest class for many years but we went through a time when it was very difﬁcult to ﬁnd new members,” Burlison says. “That appears to be slowly changing, as in recent years people have rediscovered square dancing as a fun activity and a great way to meet people.” Membership coordinator Joe Branch learned of the group from seeing them perform at a Pride festival three years ago and has helped spearhead bringing the group to other events around the area, such as Gay Day at the Hillwood Museum this past year. “What we try to do is perform at Pride and try to ﬁnd other venues to do demos, hold open houses and try to perform at different community events to get people interested in square dancing,” Branch says. “Square dancing is a delightful activity full of wonderful people. I think the D.C. Lambda Squares is the friendliest group of people I have ever met.” Many of the members have been with the group for at least 10 years, and this is designated with a special bar that they put on their membership badge. This past year, the group had to order some 20-year bars to commemorate those that have been involved since the early ’90s. “Those who were here at the beginning did wear traditional western wear, and that has been the biggest change, since we wear what we are comfortable in,” Harr says. “For us, it’s not about living up to a certain square dancing cliché, we are all about having fun.” Cindy Scharf has been going to

Lambda Squares since 1997, learning about the group from a friend. “I got involved initially to get some exercise and to meet some women in the LGBT community, and I ended up meeting a lot of good friends,” she says. “After a hard day of work, to come in and see so many smiling faces is really uplifting.” Not only did Scharf make lots of new friends, but her going had a monumental impact on her life. “I met my wife Olivia there,” she says. “It’s an organization that is open to singles and you don’t need a partner to dance. People are willing to dance with you. It’s not partnered up in the way the straight dancing is. A lot of people have met the people they are with through square dancing.” One of her favorite things about the club is that the music isn’t what you would normally think of when you hear the term “square dancing.” That’s another of the positive changes through the years. “I think there is a misconception that people who square dance tend to dance only to country-western music,” she says, “but the callers have a variety of music from different genres and some relatively modern things.” Scharf and her wife also use their involvement in square dancing to help them decide on vacations. “One of the things that we both enjoy about it is that we travel around a lot,” she says. “Every year there’s an annual convention and we use that as an excuse to travel to different places that we might not otherwise had in our sights to go to.” Both Scharf and Burlison have fond memories of the 20th anniversary party and are looking forward to the fun night that the 30th promises, as well. “We’re expecting to have some old friends and members who haven’t been here for a while come out for the night,” Harr says. “Remember, before the Internet, people had to actually go out of their houses to meet people and have fun. Square dancing is a great thing for people who love to dance to blow off steam, interact with other members and visit with their friends.”

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Bedford, Pa. offers affordable second homes
Enjoy hot springs, antiquing and much more
By DIANE STUART
For decades, Washingtonians have been escaping the District for weekend getaways looking for relief from the stresses of everyday life in the city. Among the most popular has been to retreat to Bethany and Rehoboth Beaches. I am writing to invite you to experience a great escape to Bedford County, Pennsylvania. About two hours from the District, this charming, historic town is relaxing and enables visitors to escape from the hustle and bustle of the District. You will enjoy the slower pace, and feel the tranquility and peace of our community. This truly is the best-kept secret, so please don’t tell a lot of people because once you visit you won’t want it to grow either. We love the fact that we are a small rural town but also love visitors and welcome new residents. Our native residents are warm and inviting. You will find so much to do with antiquing, unique boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops, historic attractions, hiking/ biking trails, great skiing, spa services and state parks. If you have ever dreamed of having a second home with beautiful views, a friendly community and a slower pace of life then Bedford was made for you. You can own a very affordable second home within walking distance to the downtown with shops and restaurants or a country home with privacy. We offer something for everyone’s wish list: cozy cottages, brick federals, contemporary housing, colonial homes and ranch homes. The list is endless with possibilities to make your dream come true. Imagine mid-week in the District working hard and then thinking of getting away to your very affordable second home just two hours away. Just the excitement of this thought makes the week more tolerable. Escape to Bedford and take time for yourself or invite friends to entertain. Enjoy the excitement of owning a second home and giving it your own style while having fun shopping at all the antique stores to give it the look that says you. Beautiful and ready to move into, our homes begin at $140,000 to as high as $1.3 million and everything in between. There is truly something for everyone’s taste and style. Come for a weekend getaway and stay at one of our many bed and breakfasts or the beautiful Omni Bedford Springs. Few properties can boast the historic significance of Bedford Springs Resort. For more than 200 years, the eight mineral springs located on the resort’s property served as an important gathering place. Eventually, the resort would be the site of many significant moments in American history, hosting a long list of celebrities, wealthy clientèle, corporate magnates and dignitaries from around the world. To date, the resort has hosted

10 U.S. presidents, seven of whom visited during their presidency. Enjoy the worldclass spa, luxurious guest rooms, great hiking trails and Red Oak Lake. Springs Eternal Spa, a 30,000-squarefoot destination spa, is one of the few spas in the country utilizing natural spring water in all of its treatments. The spa’s treatments are inspired by the resort’s eight mineral springs, first used by the local Native Americans for their healing properties. Sample the historic “Bedford Baths” using their signature indigenous product line inspired by local herbs and botanicals. Unwind with a soothing massage, beauty

treatment or simply spend a few moments in the serene spa garden. Step inside their resort spa getaway for a classic American spa experience and check out their great resort spa packages. Our small town will provide all the charm you expect in a historic Pennsylvania town with the modern conveniences you look forward to. We are here just waiting for you to come experience all we have to offer.

Diane Stuart is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker/SKS Realty. Reach her via coldwellbankerbedford.com.

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